[wayne zabel]

Had a job booked this morning - 2 beds and landing and stairs.Went in and I could hardly move for suff all over the lounge,prams,high chair,toys the lot.Woman of the house says that theyve been in the house for 4 years and the previous owners didnt know what a vac was for - talk about calling the kettle black.

Went upstairs to view the job and was met with 2 rooms with crap all over the floor and a kids bedroom literrally covered in toys.I was in 2 minds at this point but thought I'd give it a go as it would only take a few minutes to pick it all up and went and got all the gear in which was a struggle as the kitchen was a complete tip.

Went in the first bedroom and picked all the things up of the floor and was met with a sheet of dust on the floor an eigth of an inch thick.I proceeded to start to vac the carpet and was confronted by a used condom on the floor at the side of the bed.

It was at this point that I decided that I was off.

What do you guys do in these situations,I thought about ways of getting out without being rude in the end I texted my son and told him to ring my phone and pretend there was an emergency at home.

Would any of you had said to her that you didnt want to proceed because of the state of the house?

There are some disgustingly untidy and filthy people around.

[richy27]

wayne never walked before but been close to doing so.  if its just general clutter i just tell the customer i will put on the beds sofas etc.  if i came across a used johnny ( luckily not ) i would prob ask the customer if they would be so kind as to remove it .

at the end of the day if i am there in the house i want to make money , i know it can be irratating but soon forgotten when the money is in the bank.

[Warren Aldridge]

Why lie, you are just going to be expected to go back to the same mess

Tell her the truth. I get p1sstakers all the time and I tell them I'm not a domestic cleaner.
If they want the carpets cleaned the area needs to be cleared. Simple as that.

[Ferenc G.]

I think you made a mistake. You have to tell them the reason why you leave, that way you can't be blamed for not completing the job. They will call you again to finish the job and you will find yourself in the same situation. If you dont go back they migth start spreading you are unreliable.

I agree with you on the messy people though...

[Helen]

I think you made a mistake. You have to tell them the reason why you leave, that way you can't be blamed for not completing the job. They will call you again to finish the job and you will find yourself in the same situation. If you dont go back they migth start spreading you are unreliable.

I agree with you on the messy people though...

As Richard said about the condom. Why didn't you just say to the custie that you needed everythng off the floor beofre you could start, if she could see to that please, while you were setting up. If she was difficult about that you could have said ok, but it will be £x amount more as I have to clear it myself. Ball would have been in her court then...
what will you do if she re-books?

[derek west]

wayne
was this a phone quote and if so did you not qualfy the job when on the phone, i always ask the custy what they want, wether a full wall to wall or round furniture before i give them a price, if round furniture i always say to them to remove all the small objects, if you'd done all that and the place was like it was when you got there then youve got a valid excuse to up the price or request a revisit when the room is how it was supposed to be.

[Tom Moore]

I have read many posts, and not commented.
However I think it is time to join in.
YOU ARE A CARPET CLEANER !!
Why not do your job.......clean carpets.

[wayne zabel]

wayne
was this a phone quote and if so did you not qualfy the job when on the phone, i always ask the custy what they want, wether a full wall to wall or round furniture before i give them a price, if round furniture i always say to them to remove all the small objects, if you'd done all that and the place was like it was when you got there then youve got a valid excuse to up the price or request a revisit when the room is how it was supposed to be.

This was a phone quotation were she said we were doing walkways and round the furniture.

I assumed that if she knew the carpets were being cleaned that day then she would have had the sense to not leave the rooms  like a bomb had dropped.She was taking the p1ss.If shes any sense I think she will realise why the job wasnt done.

I never even considered asking for more money as I didnt want to do the job.

Tom Moore,I'm a self employed CC and if I feel that someone is insulting me by leaving the rooms as she did, then no I will not clean the carpets.

[wynne jones]

I would have done similar to what Richard and Helen said. Whilst it's maddening at the time and you just want to walk away, politely ask for the stuff to be cleared while you set up or it will be more. This way you can't lose.

If she clears up, great, if she is prepared to pay money for you to pick up after her fine. If she is not prepared to do either then you can walk with a clear conscience.

[Tom Moore]

Wayne
You are not self employed at all ,,,, nor is any body else,or you are deluded.
you run a business that belieive it or not needs customers.
Customers/Clients employ you/us to do things they do not want to do!!!
That is called service.
If I want my carpets cleaning I ain.t gonna employ some clown for £150 for 2hours who expects me to move everything too make his/her life easy,
This is a very simple job..do not make it to be complicated....it ain.t

[Helen]

wayne
was this a phone quote and if so did you not qualfy the job when on the phone, i always ask the custy what they want, wether a full wall to wall or round furniture before i give them a price, if round furniture i always say to them to remove all the small objects, if you'd done all that and the place was like it was when you got there then youve got a valid excuse to up the price or request a revisit when the room is how it was supposed to be.

This was a phone quotation were she said we were doing walkways and round the furniture.

I assumed that if she knew the carpets were being cleaned that day then she would have had the sense to not leave the rooms  like a bomb had dropped.She was taking the p1ss.If shes any sense I think she will realise why the job wasnt done.

If you must assume always assume the worst scenario....other than that assume just makes and ass of u and me!
Why do you think she was taking the urine?

I never even considered asking for more money as I didnt want to do the job.
Other than the mess of "things" on the floor, it was just a straightforward carpet clean, so why would you not want the work?

Tom Moore,I'm a self employed CC and if I feel that someone is insulting me by leaving the rooms as she did, then no I will not clean the carpets.

Sorry I don't understand why you were insulted

[Steve Rothwell]

Hello Tom or whoever you are....  

I see you have now mastered the bestselling book

"how to win friends and influence people"    

[wayne zabel]

Wayne
You are not self employed at all ,,,, nor is any body else,or you are deluded.
you run a business that belieive it or not needs customers.
Customers/Clients employ you/us to do things they do not want to do!!!
That is called service.
If I want my carpets cleaning I ain.t gonna employ some clown for £150 for 2hours who expects me to move everything too make his/her life easy,
This is a very simple job..do not make it to be complicated....it ain.t

Tom

£150 for 2 hours work................I think you are the deluded one

I do not want to work for people who insult my dignity and intellect by leaving a room as she had left hers today and being self employed I took the decision that I was not going to work for her,perhaps as others have commented I could have done things differently in terms of sayng why I didnt want the job.

[Steve Rothwell]

I'm with you Wayne

[Neil Williams]

Wayne
You are not self employed at all ,,,, nor is any body else,or you are deluded.
you run a business that belieive it or not needs customers.
Customers/Clients employ you/us to do things they do not want to do!!!
That is called service.
If I want my carpets cleaning I ain.t gonna employ some clown for £150 for 2hours who expects me to move everything too make his/her life easy,
This is a very simple job..do not make it to be complicated....it ain.t

Interesting set of initial postings from yourself
Yes we are carpet cleaners, and we clean carpets. We are not there to tidy up for them and equally what are the chances that this or another customer will ring you up later and accuse you of either breaking something or god forbid stealing something....all because you had to move half their household items before you can start doing what you are there for.
I make it clear I am there to clean their carpets and I would appreciate it if all small items could be removed from the working area...hasn't failed for many years.
I did once have a childs bedroom that was full of kit all over the floor. I promtly built a tower of these items on the childs bed and I joke not....it was almost 12 inches from the ceiling and left it there for them to sort out later.

As for the condom. Embarress the customer by asking if they could remove an item from besides the bed. I would then say that I was going to spend 20 minutes setting up the kit so would appreciate it if you could move all items from the working area.

[wayne zabel]

wayne
was this a phone quote and if so did you not qualfy the job when on the phone, i always ask the custy what they want, wether a full wall to wall or round furniture before i give them a price, if round furniture i always say to them to remove all the small objects, if you'd done all that and the place was like it was when you got there then youve got a valid excuse to up the price or request a revisit when the room is how it was supposed to be.

This was a phone quotation were she said we were doing walkways and round the furniture.

I assumed that if she knew the carpets were being cleaned that day then she would have had the sense to not leave the rooms  like a bomb had dropped.She was taking the p1ss.If shes any sense I think she will realise why the job wasnt done.

If you must assume always assume the worst scenario....other than that assume just makes and ass of u and me!
Why do you think she was taking the urine?

I never even considered asking for more money as I didnt want to do the job.
Other than the mess of "things" on the floor, it was just a straightforward carpet clean, so why would you not want the work?

Tom Moore,I'm a self employed CC and if I feel that someone is insulting me by leaving the rooms as she did, then no I will not clean the carpets.

Sorry I don't understand why you were insulted

Helen you really had to have seen the mess to understand why I felt insulted and no it wasnt a straight forward carpet clean as I said there was a layer of dust all over both carpets that wouldnt even vac up properly and would have been a nightmare.

[gwrightson]

 A Couple of points i have to make,

1 .   the main reason for when ever possible to arrange a survey before booking in the job, you know exactly what you are dealing with ,what to expect and can explain to custy exactly  what needs moving etc.

2.    i cannot really understand even though you quoted over the phone, the reason for not stressing how you would like the room as empty as possible.  

and as a pure coincidence i turned up at a job yesterday morning to the amazment of custy, floor shrewn with toys ,bit and pieces ..... only i had misread diary ,first time evr i might add,  and should have been another 4 miles away.  
went back today at the correct time and date ,rooms were imacculate ,only 2 settes still in room, vacced ,curtains tied up      

as for  Tom... seems to intent on stirring it for some reason!!!!!!!!!!  why ? is this just another wind up merchant ?  

Geoff

[Steve Rothwell]

as for  Tom... seems to intent on stirring it for some reason!!!!!!!!!!  why ? is this just another wind up merchant ? 

Geoff

there are a few about at the moment Geoff, they come and go though   

[Tom Moore]

Blimey
you really are a queer lot
you must live in a carpet cleaning world that I have never been in!!
All your customers clear rooms or you walk away !!
If not you charge them more !!!
They do exactly what you tell them !!!
you get insulted by dirty carpets !!
oh and you earn loads of money !!
I meet people like this in pubs on Friday nights ......with holes in their shoes

[Neil Williams]

All your customers clear rooms or you walk away !! Did I say that? I give them one chance then I do it my way which is to stack as high as possible
If not you charge them more !!! Who said that?
They do exactly what you tell them !!! Who said that?
you get insulted by dirty carpets !! What planet are you on?
oh and you earn loads of money !! Only between Mondays and Wednesday then I take the rest of the week off because I can afford to

BTW who are you really because not many appear on here and launch into arguementative postings straight away